American Go E-Journal

Kevin Yang 6d went undefeated to win the San Diego Go Club Matsuokai/Sakakibara Go Tournament held at the San Diego Chess Club in Balboa Park on Sunday. Kevin beat his brother Tony Yang 5d – who finished tied for 2nd – in the final round of a strong Open Section to claim the championship. Adam Miller 3d, who flew in from Palo Alto, was the other second place finisher in the Open. A total of 42-players contested for the title in the first open in-person go tournament in Southern California in over a year.

Following Covid-19 protocols, all adults had to be vaccinated and everyone wore masks in the playing room. Many games were played one per table, and several players opted to play outdoors on the picnic tables. Bottles of hand sanitizer were available on every game table.

Two professional players were in attendance to watch their students play: Hai Li, a Chinese 5P, who has Go schools in Irvine and San Diego, and Han Han, also a Chinese 5P, newly arrived and living in Temecula, CA. “It was great to note that almost half of the players were youth and half of those were girls,” reports San Diego Go Club president Ted Terpstra. ‘Many of these young players were playing in their first AGA rated tournament and have now been added to the memberships of the AGA and SDGC.”

Winners in the Handicap Sections:

Division 1: 2-dan to 4-kyu
1st Place – Pasco Kwok 2d 
2nd Place – Lester C Lanphear 1k 
3rd Place – Enrique Garcia 3k

Division 2: 5-kyu to 9-kyu
1st Place – Angel Shunying Zhou 5k 
2nd Place – Angelina Zhao 5k 
3rd Place – Warren T Andrews 6k 

Division 3: 10-kyu to 24-kyu
1st Place – Zoe Tan 15k 
2nd Place – Lucia Moscola 10k 
3rd Place – David Saponara 17k

Southern California Go tournaments coming up:
The Dapu Cup North America Go Open: Sunday, October 17, 2021 in Temecula
4th Annual California Go Championship: November 27&28, 2021, San Diego

-report and photos by Ted Terpstra